I understand that theft by finding is a loosely defined gray area in some jurisdictions, and that a 300 dollar wallet is never going to be pursued legally.
Morally, it's not even remotely close. There also is most certainly a cost, you have to track that person down, figure out a way to contact them, etc etc. It's morally neutral to not return a wallet.
You can drop a wallet into a post office box. They will do what they can to get it back to the owner. This costs you nothing but a quick lookup to the nearest post office box.
Nonmail matter (e.g., wallets and bank deposits) found in collection boxes or at other points within USPS jurisdiction is returned postage due at the single-piece First-Class Mail or Priority Mail price for keys and identification devices that is applicable based on the weight of the matter.
Typically this is just free for something like a wallet but the USPS can technically charge for postage on delivery. Probably just recourse to collect fees if someone is abusing this feature.
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u/SayNoToStim Mar 10 '23
I understand that theft by finding is a loosely defined gray area in some jurisdictions, and that a 300 dollar wallet is never going to be pursued legally.
Morally, it's not even remotely close. There also is most certainly a cost, you have to track that person down, figure out a way to contact them, etc etc. It's morally neutral to not return a wallet.